12 reviews of this school

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Butler School4

Posted April 28, 2014
- a parent

My children have enjoyed Butler Elementary School. One has a very small class size and one has a larger class size in the French Immersion program. The school has the Meet the Masters program, they have art, keyboarding and PE. There is an after school French Choir. The school sponsors a First Lego League team. The only complaints from my children are that the ladies in the lunch room yell a lot and the supervisors of their lunch recess are not very friendly. My only complaint is that the teachers seem very overwhelmed with teaching the new Common Core and preparing for testing. I would like to see more emphasis on the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) The school no longer offers a Science Fair, mostly due to lack of enthusiasm by parents/students. I have easily met with the Principal and she has always been receptive. The school is old, but always very clean and well-kept. The school will be rebuilt on the same property over the next year or so. That will cause a few problems with space, but will be worth it with a brand new school!

Butler Rocks. My kiddo loves the school and her teachers. The homework was pretty heavy for first grade but she came away learning a great deal. We are not Mormon and have always been made to feel very welcome by everyone. The complaints lodged about that are simply untrue.

Butler elementary is excellent on offering extra-curricular activities. There are parent sponsored activities like a French after school choir and a chess club. There are also activities at the school offered through community ed. like Mad Science, Bricks for Kids, and dance. The library also has fun enrichment activities several times a year. The PTA also sponsors fun evening activities a few times a year. World Night is lots of fun, along with family game night. PTA is very involved and always looking for new people. I am not a member because they meet in the mornings and I work in the mornings. But I do volunteer with some activities. I am not LDS and not from Utah and I was not ever excluded in any way. In fact if you pick your kids up in the afternoon and park and get out of your car it is very easy to meet other parents and PTA members. They are always seeking people to get involved. As for academics, I love the French immersion program and my son definitely has music and P.E. I do think sometimes there are too many worksheets.

We found the educational focus very limited. No science, no PE, no Arts, no music. While they're funds limited (lowest funded school district in the nation!), there is no outreach effort to the parents to try and fill the gaps through parental participation. We found the curriculum limited, unimaginative, and only focused on getting the kids through the testing requirements. When ask have the teacher give our child different workbooks that would let him excel at his level, we were rebuffed... and told we want to communicate too much about his status and progress. The principal wasn't helpful either. If you want least common denominator education, this is your place. But if you are looking for an enriching environment, look elsewhere.

We moved here to salt lake city utah August of 2011. At the time we lived in a hotel till we bought a house. The only school we could go to was Butler. The secretery in the front was outstanding as my child teacher. As the school year started for our 5th grader, problems has began. We are Jewish and my daughter was harrassed for not being mormon. The principal never met with us or even took the time to get to know new comers. PTA was poor and unwelcoming, I tried to be an involved parent but got the cold shoulder once they found out I am not mormon. Home room mom never contacted me to inclued us or make us feel welcome. We are going tomove to Woodstock elementary for 6th grade since it is our neighborhood and hoping for a better year on the social aspect. I would never recommend Butler to anyone.

I agree completely with everything the previous poster has said. We just transferred my son to Butler this fall due to a short distance move (previously attended a SLC school), and we are not happy at all. My son's class size is rediculously large at almost 30 kids and almost all of them are boys, making for a rambunctious classroom that even the best of teachers would struggle to keep under control. We are not impressed with Canyons District in general. This school lacks organization and is still struggling to find direction with the new principal. My 'simple' happy-go-lucky child has had difficulties fitting in with the snoot factor with the abundance of rich kids. He is unhappy with everything, is learning at a marginal level, although he says the lunches are better than his old school. He wants to try a different school, so that's what we are going to do.

I love Butler. I feel that everyone takes part in my son's education here. I never have seen such a caring support group of educators. We are having to move and I have to say I am worried that we won't find another school like this. We went to a nearby school and it was such an awful experience. My son sat in the classroom and the teacher had no time or patience so he just cut and colored for a few months until I found out what was going on and got him out of there. He was in 2nd grade. It was such a struggle to get any kind of feedback and I felt like an outsider in his education there. I am so glad we found Butler!